


Waiting On Love

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blind Date, F/M, Handon, Handon Weekly November Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27803320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: [AU] Hope's love life has been a little less than stellar these past few years, so when she begrudgingly agrees to let a friend set her up on a blind date, she understandably expects the worse. And she's right. It's a nightmare. Miraculously though, by the end of the night, it'll turn out not to be such a disaster after all.
Relationships: Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Waiting On Love

**Author's Note:**

> So the theme for Handon Weekly Challenge this month was: Hope and Landon meet on a Blind Date. I might have taken a little bit of creative liberty with the interpretation of that, but it still kinda works I think. Hope you all enjoy!

As the sound of piano music plays throughout the restaurant, Hope sits boredly at the table, propping her chin up with her hand as she occasionally nods along, pretending to be listening to her blind date, Connor. The guy has been going on about himself nonstop from the moment they met up outside, and she hasn't been able to get a word in edge wise ever since. He's currently telling her all about his _very_ expensive new car that he just got, and how it's a total chick magnet. You know, just what every girl wants to hear.

When it finally seems like she'll get a chance to speak, the man's phone proceeds to go off, and he holds up a finger to silence her while he replies back to whatever text he just received. Growling under her breath, she mutters discernibly in annoyance as she inaudibly stews in her seat, fingers tightening around the menu in her hands.

"Blink three times if this is a hostage situation." The waiter discreetly whispers to her as he comes up to the table, and she can't help the laugh that bubbles forth from her lips as she looks up from her menu to see him grinning teasingly at her.

"Honestly? That sounds a lot more appealing than this right now." She quietly responds back, and he bobs his head in understanding, dark curls bouncing as he tries to suppress his roguish smile.

Glancing back over at the other man who is currently still glued to his phone, the waiter ventures one more comment to the young woman. “You know, I do know the location of the fire alarm.”

Hope’s eye sparkle with amusement as she leans a tiny bit closer, cupping her hand partly over her mouth to divert the sound. “Don’t tempt me with the idea. I might actually take you up on that offer.”

They both share a look with one another, smiles on their faces as they enjoy the playful banter of this little back and forth between them. A very stark contrast to the interaction occurring between her and her so called date. But before they can say anything more, Connor finally looks up from his device, and notices the waiter standing at the table.

“Dude, finally! Where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for almost an hour!” He snaps loudly as the phone clatters noisily against the tabletop, momentarily startling the other fellow.

“It’s only been ten minutes.” Hope corrects dryly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Though if she was being honest, at this point, it really did feel more like an hour, with the way he kept yammering on like he was.

Unfazed by her commentary, he ignores her and fixes the server with an impatient glare. Shifting awkwardly, the curly haired young man straightens up and pivots his attention to Connor. “Sorry, we got a little backed up in the kitchen, but it’s fine now. So, um... My name is Landon, and I’ll be your waiter tonight. Do you both know what you'd like to drink this evening?”

“I'll take a beer, if you think you can manage that.” He snarks, and Hope briefly shoots him a dirty look before politely placing her request. “I’ll have a glass of Cabernet, please. Thank you."

Landon nods, mentally noting what he needs to retrieve for them. “Good choices. I’ll be back with your drinks and for your order in a couple of minutes." Turning to make his leave and head to the kitchen, Hope sighs. "There was no need for you to be rude to him." She chastises once he's out of earshot, as she tersely folds up her menu and places it down onto the table.

Her date exhales an annoyed sigh, waving off her concern. "It's not my fault if he's horrible at his job." Connor remarks snidely as he looks through the list of entrees, scanning them boredly. "So where was I? Oh-"

Groaning, Hope rubs at her face as resumes his verbal barrage of nonsense, while she stealthy fishes her cell phone out of her purse. Where the heck was Penelope with that fake emergency call to get her out of this nightmare? At this point, if she has to wait much longer, she going to genuinely consider trying to sneak out the bathroom window to escape this mess.

Eventually though, Hope is granted a brief reprieve in the form of the waiter returning to the table, carrying their drinks. Maybe the alcohol might make this tool seem a tad more tolerable, she thinks to herself. Landon shoots her a sympathetic look as her date keeps prattling on about... something. She's lost track at this point, having tuned him out awhile ago.

Just as he's about to place her glass down, Connor makes a wide gesture with his arms, causing him to hit Landon, and make the man fumble his grip on the beverage. The stemware topples over, spilling red wine all onto her pristine blue dress, like paint tossed haphazardly onto a canvas. Startled by the cold rush of liquid on her lap, she abruptly stands up.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry!" Landon apologizes, expression remorseful as reaches for the napkins on the table in a panic.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." She reassures him, taking the offered linen napkins from him and trying in vain to blot up some of the stain from her clothing.

"Look what you did, you stupid klutz." Connor retaliates, getting up and grabbing Landon by the collar of his uniform, getting up in his face. Squirming under his tight hold, Landon rattles off another apology as the scene starts to draw the attention of the other patrons inside the restaurant.

In an attempt to defuse the tension of the situation, and keep it from escalating, Hope steps in to try and calm things down. "Hey. It was just an accident, alright? It wasn't his fault." Though she has to bite her tongue not to say it was Connor's fault.

This seems to be enough to get him to chill, at least partly, and he loosens his grip on Landon, but still holds him in place. Leaning forward slightly, he lowly murmurs something into his ear. "Guess I should actually be thanking you, seems I'll be getting her out of that dress much sooner than I thought I would." The devious smirk on his face as he pulls away makes Landon shudder at the thought, and causes him stomach to churn.

"In your dreams, buddy!" Hope retorts harshly as she overhears him, causing a very surprised Connor to let go of Landon and whirl around towards her. His face turns beet red with anger and humiliation at her very public, outright rebuff of him. A small laugh unintentionally slips out from the waiter, only adding to the other man's further ire. "You think what that little bitch said was funny, huh?"

Before Landon even has a chance to react, he finds Connor's fist swiftly colliding with his face. The rush of pain is immediate, and he just barely manages to stay on his feet after the hit. Luckily though, two other member of the wait staff rush over just in time to break up the one sided fight, and they quickly escort/drag the short-tempered individual out of the restaurant, making a complete spectacle of himself.

Landon hisses sharply in discomfort, hands instinctively clutching his nose as he tries to catch his breath. Hope instantly dashes over to check on him, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder as she tries to look at the extent of the damage. "Oh my God! Are you okay? I'm so sorry about that!"

He manages to bob his head in response, trying to put her mind at ease. "I'm fine. Wouldn't be the fist time a jerk's hit me." Landon replies honestly, as he pulls his hand away, but he's quickly left grimacing when he looks down and notices the red in the palm of his hand. "Or not." He amends, blanching a little at the sight of that much blood. Grabbing one of the unused napkins off the table, Hope helps to try and clean him up some.

It's then that another of one his co-workers, this time a manager, approaches to both scold him for the incident, and also to discreetly let them know that they're disturbing the other customers. The older woman then hastily ushers him towards the opposite end of the restaurant, while Hope insists on tagging along to make sure he's okay.

* * *

Sitting on a stack of empty crates in the back alley of the building, Landon holds a wad of tissues under his nose while Hope gently applies a bag of ice they got from the kitchen onto his face. Luckily nothing's broken, but he's still definitely gonna look a like a raccoon in the next day or so.

"You know, you really don't have to do this." He tells her, voice slightly muffled thanks to all the kleenex, as he avoids her eyes out of embarrassment. He's really not used to this kind of attention or care, and he can't help feeling a tad flustered by it.

Hope shakes her head dismissively as she moves the ice over a bit, fingertips brushing lightly against his cheek in the process. "I don't mind. I feel partially responsible for this whole mess anyway, not to mention, you kinda saved me from the world's worst blind date. So I owe you one."

“So then, that guy... he wasn't your boyfriend?” Landon inquires curiously, attempting to be subtle, and Hope scoffs at even the suggestion of that neanderthal being her boyfriend. "Hardly. I'd like to think I have better taste than that."

Chuckling at her response, he nods carefully in understanding, a strange sense of relief filling his chest at her answer. "How did you get set up with that gem then?"

Exhaling an exasperated huff, her auburn locks fall onto her shoulders as she shakes her head. "I got so tired of my friends pestering to set me up all the time, that I finally caved, hoping if I did agree to one, they'd finally get off my back about it. Clearly by how tonight went, that was a mistake on my part. But I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, my love life hasn't exactly been all that stellar."

Landon hums in understanding, finding himself relating quite easily to her predicaments. He has a friend who tries something similar with him too. Though in his case, it was more of getting dragged along on double dates just to help keep the other girl's friend occupied. “I’m sorry your night sucked. Probably doesn’t help things that I ruined your dress.” He murmurs guiltily, grimacing as he is reminded of his handiwork. "I'll pay to have it dry cleaned or replaced by the way, whichever you want."

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal." She reaffirms, waving off his well meaning gesture as she moves the ice pack to the other side of his face. "Besides, it was my date who punched you. You certainly don't owe me anything."

Frowning in response, Landon finds it does little to help ease his conscience on the matter. Before he's able to try another attempt at making things right though, Hope's purse starts emitting a very familiar ringtone that she's quick to recognize. "Now she calls." Hope mutters to herself with a shake of her head and a sigh. Offering to take the ice pack back from her, Hope then reaches for her phone, and see Penelope's name appear on the screen.

"Sorry. I kinda need to get this. Can you give me sec?" She asks Landon, who nods in confirmation, and she mouths one more quick apology before taking a few steps further down the alley for a little bit of privacy.

"You're late." The shorter girl announces impatiently to her friend, as she brings the device up to her ear.

_"I know, but I took a pregnancy test and everything's fine."_

"Wait, what?" Hope sputters, practically dropping the item, all while almost choking on her own spit in shock.

The brunette on the other end suddenly starts laughing, causing Hope's eyebrow to twitch in irritation. _"Relax, Mikaelson. I'm just messing with you. You know I'm still with Josie. I was on the phone with my mom in Belgium and lost track of time. Jeez you're gullible sometimes."_

"And you're a bitch all the time." She huffs in return, and Penelope inhales sharply in mock offense. _"Wow, crabby much? I'm guessing the blind date isn't going so well?"_

"No, it did not." Hope confirms curtly. "He was an arrogant idiot who wouldn't stop talking about himself, and oh yeah, did I forget to mention he punched the waiter in the face?"

_"Seriously? Yikes. You really are a dating disaster."_

Hope rolls her eyes, though she can't exactly disagree with her there. As she paces the asphalt, she occasionally shoots a glance back towards Landon, who is doing his best not to blatantly eavesdrop on the conversation, by stealthily reapplying the ice back onto his face. Biting her lip in amusement, she takes a breath to let her residual irritation diminish before continuing on with her conversation.

"I thought you said this was one of Jed's co-workers from the bar? And that you met him before?"

Hope can practically hear Penelope's befuddlement as she attempts to make sense of what happened. _"He seemed perfectly nice when I talked to him, didn't detect any major douche vibes. Hm... Let me try and get this thing settled real quick."_

After a moment or two of silence, the brunette finally gets back on the line with a proper explanation. _"Okay, so here's what went down. Apparently, there's two Connor's that he works with. Conner with an E, and Connor with a O. He sent me the one with an O, who is a first class jackass on all accounts. But he makes for a good bouncer, so that's why they keep him around."_

'That makes a lot of sense.' Hope mentally remarks to herself, remembering just how he rough handled Landon only moments earlier.

_"Want me to get the right digits for the other Conner?"_

Hope can't help but immediately shake her head at the thought. "I think I've had enough chaos for one night, thank you."

 _"You know I meant well, right?"_ Penelope asks genuinely, dropping her typical sardonic tone, and causing her friend to feel a little guilty for having given her such a rough time about this. "I know you did. Thanks Pen. I'll talk to you later."

Hanging up the phone and slipping it into her purse again, she turns back towards Landon. "Everything okay?" He asks, tissues pulled away from his face, as it seems his nose has finally stopped bleeding.

"Everything's good." Hope confirms as she walks back over to him, instinctively smoothing out her dress and unintentionally bringing the attention back to the massive wine stain on it.

"Look. At least let me treat you to dinner to make up for that, since you didn't get to eat. The food here is actually _really_ good. And I'm not just saying that because I hope I don't get fired after tonight." Landon jokes, tipping his head as he grins cheekily at her, hoping to get her to agree. Hope begins to open her mouth to tell him that's very sweet, but isn't really necessary, when her hungry stomach decides to defiantly make itself known. Awkwardly clamping it shut, her face warms slightly in mild embarrassment.

Landon arches a brow as he moves to stand up, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Can I take that as a yes then?”

Hope gradually nods, conceding to her growing hunger as she finally agrees to the offer. Briefly glancing towards the restaurant, she then lets her gaze fall upon the current state of her outfit. "Though I'm not really sure they'll let me back in to eat looking like this." She points out, noting how fancy the establishment is, while she looks very much a hot mess at the moment.

Thinking that over, Landon chews at the inside of his cheek as he searches his brain for an alternative that doesn't involve such a public setting. After a moment, he comes up with one. "I _think_ I might know a way to get around that, if you're willing?"

Hope lightly shrugs her shoulders, seemingly okay with whatever it is he has planned. It’s not as if it could be anymore disastrous than what’s already transpired this evening.

“Great.” Landon announces, as he makes his way off the crate and back onto his feet. "It's probably gonna take a couple of minutes for me to pull this off, so if you wanna freshen up or just need a minute to yourself, there's the employee restroom right down the hall."

Just before fully inside the building though, he pops his head back out through the doorway. "Oh hey, I never got your name."

"Hope." She replies, and he smiles softly as he nods, repeating the name quietly to himself before disappearing from view.

Deciding to take up his earlier advice, and Hope heads off towards the bathroom to try and settle herself. Once fixed up a little and calmed down, she returns again to where the two of them had been earlier. As she makes her way through the entry, she stops in her tracks at what she sees before her.

It is now a little makeshift dining area of sorts. An emerald tablecloth has been draped over the stack of crates, and it seems he's managed to procure one of the chairs from inside for her. A small candle is nestled amongst the boundless sea of green tapestry, flame flickering delicately in the breeze. In the center sits a plate of very delicious looking food, in which the scent of alone is already making her salivate a little.

Momentarily breathless, she can't help but be incredibly touched by all the effort he's put into this for her. She’s stunned speechless for a moment. "Landon..." She eventually manages to murmur softly, startling him slightly as he was focusing on arranging the utensils.

"How did you..."

"The chef kinda owes me a favor." The young man explains, fidgeting awkwardly as she step closer to really take in the setup, and he shoves his hands into his pockets.

"I know it's not anywhere near as nice as it is inside, but it's private, and you want have to deal with any nosy or judgy patrons. Plus, the weather is really nice out tonight." He rambles nervously, suddenly second guessing this whole ludicrous idea he's whipped up. "I just... thought you deserved something special after the awful evening you've had." He confesses with a sheepish shrug, vision drifting down towards his shoes.

Landon doesn't see how she stares at him until she moves to stand directly in his line of sight, forcing him to look up at her. Thoughtful blue eyes gaze back at him, glimmering appreciatively as she smiles at him. Taking a small step forward, Hope pushes up onto her toes and presses a gentle kiss against his sore cheek. “Thank you.” She whispers softly, causing a feeling of warmth to spread through his chest and up towards his face.

Swallowing anxiously, he tries to untie his tongue and ignore the butterflies currently doing back flips in his stomach. “It was nothing. Well, um, enjoy your meal.” He hastily tells her, trying to make a break for it before she can notice the blush starting to form, or he winds up making a fool of himself.

“Wait!" Hope calls out, and Landon quickly spins back around to her. "You’re gonna make me eat alone?”

His eyes widen and his mouth falls open in mild shock, momentarily dazed as he tries to find his voice. “Uh- You, um... You want me to stay?” He asks, the disbelief clearly evident in his tone as he blinks repeatedly, internally questioning if he truly heard her right.

Hope bites at her lip, subtly shrugging her shoulders in an effort to appear casual. "I mean- If you can, that is. But if you have to get back to work, I totally understand."

Landon smiles in surprise. "Actually, they gave me the rest of the night off after what happened. Though, I think it's more to do with the fact they don't want my face scaring the customers." He self depreciates with a hearty laugh, before then lifting his gaze up to meet hers. "But yeah, I'd loved to."

Pulling up a crate to sit on, he takes a seat opposite Hope and the two settle in for what turns out to be surprisingly nice end to an initially unpleasant evening.

It would later turn out, this train wreck of a blind date would be one of the best things that's ever happened to Hope. Because it wound up leading to Hope meeting her future husband, Landon Kirby.


End file.
